LA council seeks to remove all gender references from city code

Several members of the Los Angeles City Council are seeking to remove all references to gender from the city’s municipal code, according to a motion filed Friday.

Council President Paul Krekorian’s motion, signed onto by five other council members, cites at least 200 instances in the city code that presumes the gender of city officials and members of the public to be male.

The motion calls for the city attorney to prepare an ordinance removing gender references from the city code and replacing them with the name of the office or title of the position.

The current mayor, Karen Bass, and city attorney, Hydee Feldstein Soto, both became the first woman to be elected to their respective positions in November. However, sentences in Sections 8.27 and 11.39 of the city code presume that those positions are held by men.

Krekorian’s motion also cites references to the chairman of respective council committees.

“Such language is inaccurate,” the motion states.